Bleached Zombies
by Kuro-Hollow-Neko
Summary: Zombie Apocalypse AU fic. Zombies are slowly taking over Japan, and maybe other counties. Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Rukia and others are just surviving the zombie hordes. M for gore, violence, blood, and language.
1. Starting Off, It Didn't Seem True

Summary's bad, I know, but there's not too much you can say about it. Same goes for the title. Appearances are up to the Lost Shinigami Badge Arc. People who read "I Am a Hero" may find stuff similar to the manga, and same goes for the movies "Shaun of the Dead" and "Zombieland", and the game, "Left 4 Dead". Readers don't have to know them to understand the plot though. Warning, this is my first fic written like this, so beware! May become dark after a while, and I'm not 100% sure about adding others in. Oh, and I'm adding Ichigo's hollow in. Tsuyiku is going to be his name, and it means Moon and to be.

_"Whenever a person on the TV is talking, it is like this."_

Dedicated to MisplacedSanity for their PMs, and fics. They're also doing a zombie fic, but I'm not copying off them!

Enjoy~ (If possible.)

* * *

><p>I ran, faster and faster, fleeing from the unknown entity behind me. I stuck a quick look behind me, eager to see who, or what it was. However, my eyes failed me, as it was dark, and all I could see of my purser was a shadow.<p>

I gave up on identifying the purser, looked back in front and pumped my legs forward. My lungs felt like they were about to burst. With each step, I was getting more tired. Already my legs started to ache. Still I stumbled forward, unknowingly into the blackness. My heart was racing, full of fear.

I don't want to die.

Not yet. Not now.

I don't want to die.

I'm only seventeen. My life is ahead of me.

I still have to live.

I just cannot die.

I don't want to die.

I tried calling out for help. None came.

I don't want to die.

The grip of a big, icy hand, clenched my shoulder. Terror grasped me. I turned my head and looked at the face of my chaser. And...

BEEP-BEEP BEEP

BEEP-BEEP BEEP

Staring up at the ceiling, covered in cold sweat, I groaned. Fucking dreams. Well, nightmares to be precise. But fucking hell.

Wait... I got a look at that dude's face... Who was it...?

I groaned as the image of the face floated to my mind. A bunny. A fucking person, dressed as a bunny. Chappy. The thing which I though was going to kill me was a fucking bunny rabbit. Good thing to tell Rukia, my classmate. She's so obsessed with the thing.

_"I had a nightmare about your bloody bunnies, Rukia. One was trying to kill me." _

Chuckling to myself, I sleepily got up.

Then came the familiar wake-up call from my old man.

"GOOOOOOOD MOOOOOOOORIIIIINNNGG ICH-I-GOOOOOOO!"

Putting up my foot, my dad slammed himself right into it, and landing in a heap on the floor. I stepped on him while going to get my uniform for school. I didn't care that it hurt him. He deserved it for doing that all the time.

Ignoring my dad, I started to get changed into my school clothes. The clothes that I wore now stuck to my skin, because of all the sweat.

Stupid killer bunny. I'm still fucking tired because of that thing.

There were the sounds of my dad getting up. Tch. Sure, he may be my dad, but he's fucking annoying.

It was when he was opening the door, and leaving, I saw the bandages on his arm.

"Pops?" I asked him. "What happened to your arm?"

He held his arm up, giving me a closer look at it. "This? I got bitten the other day by a patient. Don't worry, son. They're now been relocated to the main hospital. A small little mark like this doesn't stop your dad!"

I just stared at him blankly. Then returned to getting changed, and said, "Yeah, whatever."

* * *

><p>We ate breakfast while listening to the TV. No one really talked. It was actually somewhat quite for once.<p>

Maybe it had to do with that lazy arse Tsuyiku not getting up.

_"An elderly woman, aged 70 has been bitten by a man, 35 years old. He had been arrested, and is now currently awaiting trial."_ The news woman on the TV said.

People getting bitten? What the fuck? Vampires don't exist. That's just weird.

* * *

><p>Leaving home, I waved to my sisters, and dad, and turned towards where Muzuiro was currently waiting.<p>

"Good morning!" He greeted me, and I just waved back to him.

We started walking towards school, him listening to music, and me deep in thought. I'd already forgotten about that dream I had. Damn.

"Did you hear the news today?" he asked, bursting my thoughts.

"The one about that old lady getting bitten?" I asked.

"Yeah. Weird, isn't it?"

"The next thing you know, its vampires,"

"Hopefully not,"

End of discussion. Muzuiro's never really been one for conversations, but at least he's not like Chad. If it was him, that conversation wouldn't have ever existed.

We entered into school grounds, and made our ways to our classrooms.

"See you," he said, still walking up the corridor when I'd arrived at my class room.

"Yeah," I replied, and stepped into the room.

Rukia saw me coming in, and cheerfully greeted, "Good morning, Ichigo!"

"Morning," I replied, taking my seat.

Stupid midget had something to do with my nightmare, I just knew it. However, my memory was just too fuzzy, and I just couldn't make heads or tails out if it. Shrugging, I took out my books, and started the wearisome torture of school.

* * *

><p>At lunch, I went up to the roof of the school, with Keigo, Muzuiro and Chad. None of them were in my class. Rukia, Orihime, and Tatsuki, and a bunch of other girls in our year, were off near some trees. Keigo was happily chatting away, like always.<p>

I tuned into his conversation, even though what most of the things he said was complete bullshit.

"... And it was all freaky-like. She'd gotten up like nothing had happened. The truck driver was freaking out. He asked her if she was okay, and she bit him. He cried out, but she just walked off. I got bitten myself."

Keigo then pulled up his sleeve. His bite mark was enough to make someone queasy. The teeth marks were all red, and pink, and there was purple bruising around it. It seriously looked like it hurt.

"Does it hurt?" Chad asked.

"It stings like hell!" Keigo shouted.

"My dad got bitten too," I said. "Said it was a patient of his."

"It sounds like a lot of people are getting bitten," Muzuiro mused.

"Maybe the vampires are rising!" Keigo shouted. "Wait, if that's it, then I'm going to become a vampire! I don't want to become a vampire!"

"Vampires don't exist, Keigo," I pointed out.

"How about zombies?" Muzuiro asked.

I snorted. "No way. There's no way ether of them exist."

"What do you think, Chad?" Keigo asked the hulking, silent giant.

"I agree with Ichigo," he said.

"Thank you," I said. "At least somebody else is sane here."

"Then what do you suggest?" Keigo questioned me.

"I haven't gotten a clue," I admitted. "Maybe a gang that goes around biting people?"

We argued long and hard into the end of lunch. No conclusion was made, but it would simply be because of lack of resources. A few people have been bitten, sure, but so far, all of us only knew four people have been attacked. Consistence, maybe? Who knows? I surely don't. What's a bunch of high-schoolers going to know about this stuff? The bell rang, and we all dragged ourselves back to boredom.

* * *

><p>Finally, the class was released. Muzuiro's and Keigo's classes had gotten out far earlier than mine, so I started to walk back to the Unagiya Shop alone, to start working. I've been taking off way too much time there, so my boss is going to get super angry if I take off more time. Her kid really gets on my nerves. He keeps on calling me, "stupid Kurosaki"... I haven't done anything wrong to the kid! He also thinks that I'm hitting on his mother. As if! She's an old hag anyway, so that would just be gross.<p>

"Ichigo!" Call a voice, disrupting my train of thoughts.

I looked behind me and saw no one. Then I looked down. Rukia was standing there, the short-arse.

"Sorry, midget," I said. "I didn't see you because you're too tiny."

"Idiot!" She hissed at me, and kicked me in the shin.

I bounced up and down, clutching the now-bruised leg. Fuck that hurt. My leg almost broke because of her. She may be small, but she's powerful, and deadly. Maybe I shouldn't undermine midgets that much.

"What do you want, Rukia?" I hissed though my teeth, while still hopping.

"I just wanted to walk with you, that's all," she said while grinning at my pain.

Sadist.

I just huffed, and continued on my journey.

"Have you heard about the bitings?" she asked.

It seems like the topic today. Probably the next day, everybody would've continued on with their lives, and forgotten about it.

"Yeah," I answered. "My old man was a "victim". Keigo got bitten too, and said he saw another guy get bit too. It was on the news today as well."

"I just think it's freaky," she said. "That all these people have been bitten."

I frowned at her. "You know others that have been bitten too?"

"Chizuru had been bitten, and a few others have been witnesses to other bitings."

***SREEEEEEEEECH***

***SMASH***

I looked over to see a six year old girl, on the road, in front of a car, with a smashed window, covered in blood. Deep red blood was pooling around her, and quickly spreading.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god," came the panicked voice of the driver, as he walked around his damaged car, and to the girl.

He then shook her, and said, "Hey, are you okay? Hey? Please, oh god, don't be dead."

There was a sickening crunch, and screaming from the driver.

All eyes were on him, and some people scurried over to help. I swore, that little girl was biting his hand. Her eyes were at different angles, and wide open. Blood trickled through her pigtailed blonde hair.

Rukia ran over to the guy, and I sighed, and followed. When we had gotten over, the guy was in the feudal position, clutching his hand and the girl was struggling to get up.

"Fuck that hurts!" He shouted. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Within a few minutes, the police, and the ambulance came. When they came, I realized that I was meant to be at work now. The old hag's going to torture me, for sure now.

I ran off, and Rukia followed me, like a puppy.

"Why're in a hurry?" she asked me.

"My boss will get angry at me again," I told her without stopping.

I got to my workplace, rushed a goodbye to the bunny lover, dashed up the stairs, and though the door.

Burning eyes met mine, and I just thought this;

Oh shit.

* * *

><p>Writing from 9:00 PM - 12:00 AM, is not a good idea. Especially when you really need sleep. So if you readers find any mistakes, please let me know. Also, I am aware that Ichigo swears in his thoughts a lot. Meh. Is it too fast? Is it good? Don't leave the opinions to me, I'll just say it's bad, and dump it. Probably not this one, because I looks pretty good to me, but it may be because it only makes sense to me. Maybe. Meh. I'll see what you guys think. Also, for the school times, I heard somewhere that there usually is no definite time when school ends. Please tell me if I'm wrong.<p> 


	2. But As Time Passed

It'll take a while for the fic to get to the bit said in the summary, so just hold tight. Also, Tsukiya means "Moon and to be".

"_Whenever a person on the TV is talking, it is like this. Sorry it wasn't established first chapter."_

* * *

><p>"WHERE WERE YOU?" My boss half roared, half shrieked at me. "WHY DIDN'T YOU PICK UP YOUR PHONE WHEN I CALLED?"<p>

Ouch. Now my ears are ringing. Great. I think I lost some of my hearing too.

The old hag was tapping her foot impatiently, and waiting for my excuses.

"Look, I was let out late, and there was this accident that happened when I was making my way to here." Then I added, "And an annoying midget contributed as well."

She eyed me curiously. Ikumi was a person who at times understood others. At times.

"It doesn't mean that you have to lack off, and come back here late, again!" she shouted, but thankfully not as loud as before.

My boss sat down, and I sat on the chair facing her. It seemed like she was in deep thought.

"So... What was the accident about?" she asked. "And the midget's your black-haired girlfriend, right?"

I snorted. "She's not my girlfriend. More like my torturer."

"I gathered that from you limping just now," she pointed out.

I was limping? That short-arse was actually going to break my bone, wasn't she? She's worse than my dad.

"So, what about the accident?" my boss pressed.

"Some guy ran over a little girl, who looked about six," I explained. "She bit him, and was trying to get up. I couldn't really gather much else, because of the crowd. It'll probably be on the news."

"Lots of people have been bitten," she said. "I wonder what this world's coming to."

She then got up, grabbed a mighty stack of requests from a nearby bench, and slammed it in front of me, on the table.

"Despite this, you'll still have to work your ass off doing all of this stuff,"

I groaned. That pile looked massive. I think my leg was now starting to throb, realizing that it had more pain it had to go though. Oh well. It was for money. Solitude would be ideal in the future, and in order to gain it, I had to start saving now, while I had the chance. Working at an odd jobs place wasn't exactly ideal, but at least the hag paid me enough. Never knew you could get so much money just from doing odd jobs. Then again, people who came to this place were committed to pay whoever was willing to do their stuff for them. Then again, those people probably had no one else to do it.

* * *

><p>I trudged back home, after a weary day of work. Luckily, there was no more talk of the bitings, so it looked like me theory of people forgetting about it the next day was becoming true. Some of the people who I'd seen had a few bandages around arms, legs, and their head.<p>

Just about when I was going to walk into the door, I looked at my watch.

10:12...

Dad's not going to be happy with that. But it was my boss' and school's fault for keeping back so late. I snuck in through the door, took off my shoes, and entered the main room. Karin and Yuzu were surprisingly still up, and so far, there was no flying dad. I looked around wildly, expecting dad coming out at any moment.

"Welcome home, Onii-chan!"

I looked back over to the couch where Yuzu and Karin were watching TV, and Yuzu was beaming at me.

"I'm home," I replied. "Where's Pops?"

"Right now goat-chin's sleeping," Karin answered. "He's gotten sick. That's why there's a sign out front."

I didn't walk past the front, so that's why I didn't see that sign... But he was good and kicking (literary) today. I wonder what it was that brought the tough old goat down.

"Onii-chan, your dinner's in the kitchen, you'll need to heat it up," Yuzu told me.

"Okay, thanks," I said.

Then I remembered. I hadn't seen that snowy-haired brother of mine all day today. Surprisingly I only thought of him just then. That would explain why the table was so quiet at breakfast. Normally he would be ranting and raving and being violent like always.

"What about Tsukiya?" I asked.

"It looks like he's gotten sick too," Yuzu informed me. "But he's not as bad as dad, so he'll be good tomorrow."

I walked over to the kitchen, and shoved my dinner in the oven.

Turning my attention to the TV, I was surprised again. They were watching the news, instead of some other program.

_"A week ago, 20,000 people were given a supposed vaccine that would stop the growth of brain tumours- "_

"Ichi-nii, are you listening to this?" Karin asked.

"Yeah," I replied

_"These people were monitored after they had been dosed with the vaccine for a day. There was no real danger at the time, so the patients were told to go home, and come back in a week. However, no one showed up next week. When some people went over to investigate their homes, there were numerous body parts and organs inside the house, showing that the patients had murdered their friends and family before leaving. When the neighbours were questioned, most of them said that they were bitten by the receivers of the vaccine. Most of these patients are on the loose, so be vary of those around you. In other news..."_

I snorted. Just when it was getting interesting, the news changed topics. I gazed towards my food. Chicken Teriyaki with rice. Not exactly my favourite food, but good enough. I started strumming my fingers on the bench next to me, starting to become impatient.

BUZZT

I snapped my head back around towards the TV, and saw both of my sisters getting up from the couch.

"Goodnight, Onii-chan!"

"'Night, Ichi-nii," they both said, and climbed upstairs, and to their rooms.

They were probably waiting for me to come back home.

I ate my dinner in silence, and walked up to my room. When I was passing my twin's room, I was half tempted to barge in there and start ranting, like him. But I stopped myself. He, like dad, hardly got sick. For something to put him out of action, even for a day, was rare. Kind of like myself, I guess. Tsuyiku'll probably pay me back for it, one-way-or-another. Most likely twice as worse as what I would give him.

Shrugging, I went to my room, and to bed.

* * *

><p>Land that was completely flat as the eye could see. That was where I stood in the middle of. Blue sky above, green grass below. Nothing else in sight. Everything was just eerily quiet. Then someone kicked me in the back of the head. I was launched across a few meters of land, and then I picked myself up, looked over where I was kicked, and shouted, "Who did that?"<p>

I was greeted by the solemn face of a clown, sitting down on a random chair, and holding a balloon. What the fuck?

"Did you kick me?" I asked him.

He just stared at me, and gave no response.

I just scowled at him, and looked away, trying to make sense of this dream. Then I looked back. There were more clowns, all identical, and staring at me. I looked away, then back. More had appeared. There was about twenty of them. Away, then back. Fifty clowns. At this point, I was freaked out. Having fifty clowns, all the same and staring at you wasn't the best experience. Then they all grinned at me. All at the same time. Fucked up nightmare I was having.

Then it suddenly got dark, disco music started playing, and multi-coloured lights started flashing everywhere. The clowns started breakdancing. Some started to strip.

I have really fucked up dreams.

Then a shout came from somewhere, and Tsuyiku came charging in, with a baseball bat, dressed as Elvis. I just was laughing at him.

WHACK

The Elvis albino then smacked a clown across the head, which possibly killed him, and then my brother started rampaging around the room, smacking all the other dancing clowns.

When he finished, he just looked at me, and said, "Wha ta fuck are ya laughin' at?"

I was laughing too hard to answer.

He the grabbed a microphone from nowhere, and started singing, "And I was like, baby, baby, oooooooh!"

Ouch. He sang it way too high for his tessera, but he was doing it exactly like the beaver would have sung it. I was about to wrench the microphone off him when-

BEEP-BEEP BEEP

BEEP-BEEP BEEP

- I woke up.

* * *

><p>There must be a condition for having strange dreams. Wait, it was a nightmare. But anyway, if there was, I would be 100% positive. No sane person could think that shit up. Unless they were taking drugs, but that's beside the point.<p>

I dragged myself out of bed got dressed, and went downstairs, where breakfast was being served. Yuzu and Karin were there, I thankfully wasn't attacked by dad, so he should still be sick. So the albino would be still up in bed. Then I noticed something else.

"Yuzu, why aren't you in school uniform?" I asked.

"Because dad's still sick, I should take care of him, and the house," she answered.

That actually was a good idea. I then went back upstairs to wake my albino version.

I slammed his door open, and shouted, "Oi, you lazy arse! Get up!"

He only groaned at me.

I grabbed his blanket and dragged it off him.

"Come on, you lazy bastard! Get up, or you'll be late for school!"

I then walked out of the room, feeling brown eyes glaring at me.

"School ca' go n' fuck itself," he moaned, but reluctantly got up.

Tsuyiku was a delinquent, pretty much because of the fighting. He had way too much energy, and so to exert it, he fought. He's fought nearly other delinquent in Karakura Town. The albino though never fights the weak though. A lot of times, I would get whispers from guys on the street, saying,

"Dude, that's the Bloody Moon's twin brother," one guys once said to his friend.

"Yeah, they look really alike, apart from the hair and the skin," he other said. "Apparently he'll beat the shit out of you as well."

"Yeah, it'll be best if we stay away from him as well."

After breakfast, all of us walked in our different directions. Yuzu and Karin going to their school, Tsuyiku going to his high school, and me walking to mine. I met up with Muzuiro again.

* * *

><p>For the food, ramen kept on coming to my mind, because that's the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Japanese food. Then I thought Spaghetti meatballs, to go western. Then I remembered Chicken Teriyaki. It's sooooooo good! I love it! I don't like sushi, because of the seaweed and raw fish, but I love Chicken Teriyaki. Sorry for my rant there. Btw, I had to give Hollow Ichigo a suitable name, not just Shiro, and calling him Hichigo in this fic would just be plain stupid. Sorry that he just randomly came in, I'm going to edit the last chapter so he slots in perfectly. I know the "me walking to mine" doesn't use proper grammar, but I wanted to word it like that so it would fit in. Also, no I wasn't taking drugs went I wrote the fucked up dream. Pretty much I wrote the first things that came to me. I also know that albinos have some eye defects, but I'm just going to ignore that for now… By the way, Tsuyiku has of course; white hair, white skin, brown eyes, normal pink tongue, white teeth, and his sclera is white. Tsuyiku and Ichigo are twins in this fic, and pretty much identical, apart from Tsuyiku's hair and skin.<p>

Sorry for the long author note and for stopping this chapter like this.


	3. We Became Aware of It

Sorry it took longer than usual.

I've now got MisplacedSanity betaing for me! Thanks to her!

_"This is when a person on the TV talks."_

**"This is a zombie talking, or this fic's equivalent of a zombie."**

* * *

><p>Today was weird. Lots of people, including Keigo weren't at school today. They were all the same. They had all called in sick. Maybe they got what Pops caught. But there was a fuck load of them. Something was fishy. Was it to do with the people getting bitten, maybe? The woman on the TV last night said that the people who were diagnosed with the vaccine started going around biting people.<p>

"Keigo called in sick..." Muzuiro stated. "I'll probably go to his house after school."

Me, Muzuiro and Chad were sitting at our usual place at the rooftop, at lunch. It was a bit dull without Keigo, the loony. Though the silence was good, you could actually hear yourself think.

"Maybe it has to do with his bite mark?" Chad asked.

"Probably..." Muzuiro said.

Then the door connecting up to the roof opened. Rukia stood in its doorway. She then walked over to us, and just sat down.

"Hey, midget," I said. "Why are you here?"

"What? Can't a girl sit here?" she asked, while taking out her Chappy lunchbox. "And don't call me midget."

"What the hell? You've got a stupid bunny lunchbox as well as all that other bunny crap? Why can't I call you that when it's true?"

This deserved me a punch in the gut.

"It's not a "stupid bunny" it's Chappy," she told me.

"Yeah, you're right, it's a retarded bunny. Just look at that thing. 'Chappy' can go suck my balls."

I should've learnt from the first punch. She then kicked me in the crutch. I kneeled over from the pain, and glared at her.

"Bastard," I growled.

She just looked away from me, and said, "That's what you get for insulting Chappy."

The door opened again, and Tatsuki and Orihime came through it.

"Hello, Kurosaki-kun! Hello Rukia-chan!" Orihime shouted while rushing over towards us. "Mind if we join you?"

I looked over to Chad and Muzuiro. Chad just looked at me, and Muzuiro shrugged.

"Sure," I said.

Orihime and Tatsuki then gladly plonked themselves down on the floor.

Orihime then shoved her hand into her bag, and pulled out a lamington, with tomato sauce (or ketchup for others) in the middle of it. There was also bits if garlic on the top of it.

"Let's eat!" she shouted, and shoved the whole thing in her mouth. "Mmmmmmmm!" She then grabbed out another lamington.

She was being given blank stares. That should not taste good at all. Everyone just sighed and returned to their more normal lunch.

"So," I started. "Why are you guys all here?"

"A lot of people are sick," Uryu said while walking up to them.

"Ishida!" I exclaimed. "You're here too?"

"Yeah," he said while sitting down. "I can sit where ever I want to."

I was confused. Why was everybody sitting here? Maybe because Keigo's not here, everybody wants to come up here. I guess a lot of people hate him, but that's not too surprising.

Uryuu pushed up his glasses, and said, "Did everybody watch the news last night?"

Didn't think he'd start the conversation. I didn't know much about him, and I hardly remember his name. To think about it, it was quite weird that he was sitting with us.

"Yeah!" Orihime shouted. "That one with about the dolphin was soooo cute!"

"Um, that's not the one I'm talking about," Uryu said.

"What about that one where they made an entire 6 foot Chappy out of Lego?" Rukia shouted her eyes full of delight. "I want that Chappy!"

"You want every retarded bunny thing made," I stated.

She gave me another punch, but this time to the face.

"No, Kuchiki-san, I don't mean that one ether," Uryu said.

"Then which one?" Orihime asked.

"The one with the cure for tumours by the vaccine that went out of control," he answered.

"I saw that one," I said. "But they didn't give us all too much information about it."

"My father, even though I despise him, told me some more information than what was told on the news," Uryu said. "The vaccine had made a new type of virus that infects the whole brain. Because they managed to find and capture one of the inflected, they could study the virus more. What they know of now is that the virus makes the body move on its own, and it acts on its impulse to bite others, and eat flesh."

"That's scary..." Orihime whimpered.

"So, why didn't they say it on the news?" I asked.

"Because they didn't get that information then," Uryu explained. "They also wanted to wait for a bit before telling people, because it's still in observation. I'm certain that the media will tell people about this virus, because it seems like more people were inflected then what we realized, and so others can keep an eye out for the inflected."

"Did you say that the "inflected" people want to eat flesh, and bite others?" Tatsuki asked.

"Yes, I did," Uryu answered while pushing up his glasses.

"All the people getting bitten are from the inflected!" Rukia pointed out.

She was right. There couldn't be any other explanation for it. Well, Keigo was wrong about the vampire thing.

"I was thinking about a zombie manga," Tatsuki said. ""I Am a Hero". The zombie disease was passed though bites, so maybe it could be the same?"

I snorted. "Tatsuki, you know better than to trust mangas,"

"But I'm just pointing out the facts," she complained. "You borrowed some of the volumes before, so you should know what I'm talking about."

I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, I see your point, but whoever's in charge of observing the "inflected" should be able to know if the virus can be passed on."

The bell went, and we went back to class.

I thought about the virus Uryu was talking about. We would definitely have to keep an eye out for the inflected, and especially if they're on a rampage biting people. I wonder why the police haven't gone out and caught some of these inflected. It maybe is because they can't identify the inflected. Whoever's in charge of the infected people, or the virus didn't do a very good job. If someone has been injected with something that you don't know what it will do to the person, isn't it best to keep them in hospital, or something? I shrugged, and returned to my work.

* * *

><p>I returned back home after work again, this time, I was on time for dinner. But before dinner, I jumped onto the couch and checked the news.<p>

_"There has been a car accident on Kotori Street, causing a traffic jam. People are advised to stay away from the place until further notice. In other news, the vaccine that was supposed to cure brain tumours has now been confirmed for it to make a virus. Here is Professor Akatsuki Nishmura, member of the R.S.G.* the head of the team that made this new vaccine."_

Maybe he'll say the stuff Uryu was telling us about at lunch. Maybe he'll say even more, if he's the head of the team that made the failed vaccine.

_"Thanks, Ayame,"_ The screen then changed to show an old man with a black greying hair, which was swept up in a comb over, and he wore glasses, a black with red polka dotted tie, a light blue collared shirt, and a white coat. The age was really showing on his face, because he had big blotches on his skin, and lots of wrinkles. _"This new virus is a remarkable one, which inflects the whole brain, and the body starts to move by itself. The person has no real control over the body, but we have found that the inflected people can talk, but they don't remember people, and lose the sense of what's right and wrong. The body then starts to be attracted to others, and starts biting others. These inflected have only been shown to have eyes that don't normally focus on objects, the eyes are also bulging, and the skin of an infected becomes pinker. We of the R.S.G. would like for others to keep an eye out for these inflected, and to call 6234 1235 if any are found. This virus is at the present has no name."_

_"That was just Professor Akasuki Nishmura of the R.S.G. A tourist called Kate Jonesburg has been kidnapped, and has been missing for the past two weeks..."_

"Oi, Ichigo," I turned around to find Tsuyiku standing above me. "Is it jus' me, or tha world's turnin' into vampires?"

"Why would the world be turning into vampires?" I asked.

"'Cause tha virus is gonna get out, n' everyone's goin' ta be bitin' each other, like vampires," he said.

"They're not sucking out people's blood, so how can they be vampires?"

"'Cause vampires are tha only ones who bite people,"

"Then dad is a vampire,"

"N' we're all fucked,"

I sighed and shook my head. Vampires don't exist.

"Dinner's ready!" Yuzu called from the kitchen.

I turned off the TV, and both of us went to the table.

Miso soup, rice, and soy fish was for dinner. It's the same old stuff.

"How was dad today?" I asked Yuzu.

"I'm quite worried about him," she said. "He slept most of the day, the times when he was awake; he sweated a lot, and vomited a lot. He also fell over multiple times, and lost his balance sometimes too. He had a bad case of headaches, and I found that his concentration as bad too."

"Maybe he really is becomin' a vampire," Tsuyiku said.

Karin snorted. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, ther' wa' a guy on TV who wa' sayin' that a virus was made 'cause of tha vaccine he made," Tsuyiku explained. "Anyway, he wa' sayin' that tha virus made people bite others, n' I wa' thinkin' that it would be vampires behind it all. 'Cause vampires bite people."

"Vampires don't exist," Karin pointed out. "I didn't think you were that stupid to think that, Tsuyi-chan."

"I'm just sayin'" he said.

"What about you?" I asked Tsuyiku. "Are you okay from your one day of sickness?"

"Yea, I'm all good," he said. "Plus, it wa'n't sickness, it wa' from a fight that turned nasty,"

"That wasn't what I was told," I said while glaring at Yuzu.

"Well, it doesn't matt'r now," my brother sighed.

I didn't get why he became a delinquent. I know it's for the fighting, and stuff, but he messes with the wrong people, and one day it'll backfire on him. Those guys will try to kill others who get in their way, if they can. And when he does get killed, we'll lose another member of our family. Mum's already dead. He should know better than to get himself killed.

Tsuyiku stared at me. "Are ya, ok, Ichigo? You're starin' into emp'y space. "

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

We finished dinner, and went to our rooms. I did my homework, and assignments, and went to bed.

* * *

><p>Everything was black. Black as charcoal, black as the night sky with all its stars and the moon winked out. The darkness was almost suffocating. I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. Then, there was a glimmer of light. A silver butterfly, which was glowing, fluttered past. The butterfly lit up the walls of the room that I stood in, and a light magically lit up from somewhere. There were posters on the walls, old and faded. I sighed and face palmed. The posters should be a joke, because there were pictures of arses on the walls. I then heard footsteps behind me, and spun around to see who it was. Somebody in a Barney the Dinosaur costume was there.<p>

I scowled at the figure, trying - but failing on making sense of this dream, or nightmare. But I can't make sense of the other dreams/nightmares I have anyway. Then again, I forget what it was about a few minutes after I wake up.

Barney guy then screamed, "You MUST LOVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

I scowled even more at the crazy Barney dude. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

He then pulled out a knife, and screamed, "LLOOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEEEEEE !" He then ran towards me, with his knife.

I dashed out of the room, and shut the door behind me. Again it was black, and I couldn't see anything. Then a light turned on. I spun around to face the middle of the room. It looked the exact same of the room I just ran out of. And there was a guy dressed in a Barney costume again, and thankfully, he wasn't holding a knife. He pulled off the helmet, and it revealed to be Dad underneath.

"Pops?" I asked.

He looked at me blankly. "Who the hell are you?"

"Pops..." I said, not knowing what else to say.

"I'm not your Pops, I'm actually a girl," she/he said.

"What?" I asked, confused.

She pulled off a type of mask, and revealed herself to be Britney Spears.

"What the-" I started.

* * *

><p>BEEP-BEEP BEEP<p>

BEEP-BEEP BEEP

I sat up, while shouting, "- fuck?"

I took in my surroundings, and realized that I wasn't in the arse covered room, with Barney/Pops/Britney Spears. I sighed, and flopped back onto my bed. After a while, I got up, and got dressed. I then went downstairs for breakfast. Luckily, Tsuyiku was up, so I didn't have to wake him again.

He noticed me going down the stairs, and greeted, "Morning, Ichigo,"

"Morning," I replied.

"Good morning, Onii-chan!" Yuzu cheerily said, not in her school uniform again.

"Morning, Ichi-nii," Karin greeted as well.

"Morning," I replied again.

I sat down, and had breakfast.

"So Dad's still sick?" my brother asked Yuzu.

"Mm," she replied. "I haven't fed him yet, but I'm guessing he's still sick."

"You sure it's okay that you skip school like this?" I asked her.

"Yeah, they said its okay," Yuzu said. "A lot of others are skipping school because of illness, so tests will be postponed, and they won't teach anything important until people get better."

"Yea, that's tha same wit' my school," Tsuyiku said. "Teachers to'd us this yesterday, so we ha'dly did anythin'."

I frowned harder. We did the usual work yesterday, and it was hard. I don't know what my school will do today, but hopefully we won't do much. We finished off breakfast, and Tsuyiku, Karin and I left to our different schools. I met up with Muzuiro, and we walked off.

"Did you see Keigo yesterday?" I asked him.

"Yeah, he doesn't look all too good," Muzuiro replied. "He was vomiting, falling over, and he had a really bad headache. It doesn't look like he'll be getting out of bed soon."

"That sounds like what my dad's got," I said.

"So your dad's sick too?" he asked. "If that can take him down, then it must be serious."

"Yeah," I agreed.

There was silence for a while, and Muzuiro looked like he was thinking.

Keigo had been bitten, and he had gotten sick, and Pops was like that too, with the same symptoms. But that was just two people. You couldn't make an assumption from that.

"Chizuru got bitten too, and wasn't here yesterday," Muzuiro said. "Think they're all connected?"

"Maybe," I replied. "But this is three people, and we don't know if she's got what the other two have."

"Yeah, you're right," he said.

"But, people are getting bitten by that virus thing that Ishida was mentioning yesterday."

"Didn't he say that a new virus was created? Maybe the virus could be passed on though the bite?"

"Maybe… But they're got people working on analysing the virus, so I think they would know about it."

"Mm,"

The rest of the walk was in silence, so we arrived at school, and split up.

* * *

><p>At lunch, Inoue, Tatsuki, Ishida and Rukia joined as again.<p>

"Why are you guys suddenly coming up here during lunch?" I asked them when they came up. "I can understand it's because of Keigo, but…"

"A few of our friends are also sick," Rukia explained. "We thought a good place to have lunch was up here, with you guys."

"That doesn't explain why Ishida is here too," I hinted to four-eyes sitting across from me.

He just pushed up his glasses and said nothing.

Rukia, knowing that Ishida wasn't going to answer, changed the subject, but to a pointless one.

"You know the people who made the Lego Chappy?" She asked. "Apparently they're making more Chappies, but even bigger!"

"Rukia, I don't want to hear any more of that stupid bunny again, today," I said.

"It's not a stupid bunny!" Rukia cried. "It's cute!"

"'Cute' my ass," I scoffed. "It's hideous!"

The midget resorted to violence again, and punched me for the second time this week in the gut.

"It's adorable!" She shouted. "Men like you don't appreciate cuteness like Chappy!"

"You're right I don't," I said. "So women like you don't understand the ugliness of that thing.

She punched me straight in the face, and ignored any other comments I made about the bunny. The bell went, and so we went straight back to class.

I didn't have soccer after school, because most of the team weren't there, so I didn't have work, and went straight home afterwards.

* * *

><p>When I was in my room doing my homework, Tsuyiku came in.<p>

"Oi, Ichigo," I span around on my chair to face the albino.

"What?" I asked.

"You think th't maybe tha people gettin' bitten has ta do wit' all them people gettin' sick?" he asked. "'Cause a lot o' people are sick, n' they've been bitten. Maybe tha world is turnin' into vampires, like I said."

"Wait, you know a lot of people who are sick, and have been bitten?" I asked back.

"Yea', tons o' them," he replied. "Th't virus did get out. Th't means tha old man is a vampire!"

Sure vampires didn't exist, but I wasn't quite sure now. But vampires bit the neck of people, didn't they? And suck people's blood?

But, what about zombies, like Tatsuki were saying before? They did eat brains, but often they've been made to eat other people, not just their brains. The mangaka for "I Am a Hero" was right. But there was one thing that blocked this possibility.

"Tsuyiku, can you turn on the TV over there?" I asked.

"Why do I have ta turn it on? Why do ya need it on anyway?"

"Because you're closest, and so we can watch the news to see if there's any more stuff on the virus,"

He turned it on, and changed the channel to the news.

"Ya know th't Uncle's comin' over tonight?" Tsuyiku asked.

I sighed. "No, I don't."

"Well, now ya do," he said, and returned to watching the news.

Uncle Zangetsu is a very quiet person, and at times it's awkward, because of the silence. But he's a great uncle, and Tsuyiku thinks of him like a second father. So I'm glad it's a Friday, so Zangetsu can entertain my albino brother for a bit.

_"Breaking news,"_ the news woman on the TV said. _"The virus strain has started to go out of control, and various amounts of people are biting people and eating the flesh and brains of others. If you know anybody who has been bitten by another human, stay away from them, and avoid getting bitten."_

"Dad's a zombie!" Tsuyiku shouted.

Both of us heard a scream. Then we both heard a sickening crack.

That voice before was Yuzu's...

"Yuzu!" I shouted before dashing into the hallway with my brother following.

Tsuyiku and I insanely froze. We could see Pops in his room, standing over Yuzu. Pops was a wreck. He was wearing his pyjamas, with love hearts on them (did he go to the women's section to get those?), and it was stained with sweat, blood and vomit. His skin was pink, his eyes were bulging out of their sockets, and blood was dribbling from his mouth.

Yuzu was lying in his room like a doll, with a large chunk out of her hand. Her leg had also been torn of, and I couldn't see her head, but there was blood trickling down her neck from her head. Blood was everywhere, smeared onto the door, and walls, and staining the floor. Pops then lifted up a leg, and started chewing on it.

"Yuzu!" I shouted. "Yuzu!"

I broke out in cold sweat all over, and I started to tremble. No, no. I had failed to protect my sister. Like I had failed to protect Mum. And now Pops is a zombie. I started crying.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" I yelled.

**"Carrots."**Was that Pops talking?

I lifted my eyes to him once more. Yuzu's leg was out of his mouth, and he could only be the only one that could have said that. Maybe, he still had a conscious, down there. Maybe they could reverse the effects.

"Ichi-nii, Tsuyi-nii, what's going on?" Karin said while climbing up the stairs.

She then saw Pops, who was singing, **"I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby~",**and Yuzu dead in his room.

"Yuzu..." she said. She then gritted her teeth and snarled, "Pops, how could you have done this?" Tears were now streaming down her face. "Why did you do it? Why did you kill your own daughter!"

After receiving no answer, she charged herself at him. Tsuyiku stopped her. I hadn't noticed how he was reacting to this before, but it was the same as all of us. Crying, sweating, trembling, with eyes wide and full of fear.

Yuzu is gone.

Forever.

This is no nightmare, no matter how cruel it is. Mum dying before was no nightmare, as we hoped to believe it was.

Yuzu is gone. Pops is a zombie, who killed her.

What do we do now?

What can we do?

Pops then started stumbling towards us. We were frozen on the spot, thinking that we were going to wake up any minute now. But it never happened.

Tsuyiku was the first to act. He ran into his room, grabbed a wooden sword, and came back out.

"Wait, are you going to kill Pops?" I asked.

"We've got no ot'er choice," he said while gripping the sword harder.

"But what if he's still in there?" I asked. "What if they can reverse the effects of the vaccine? Can't we ring the number that they gave to us yesterday?"

"Can ya remember th't number?" he asked me. "I can't remember it. Face it, Ichigo. Pops is gone. Wha we are seein' here is his live corpse. He ain't comin' back."

"But if we kill him, wouldn't that put us down for murder?" I asked. "Two seventeen year olds and a twelve year old locked away for murder! You want that on our heads!"

"It's self-defence, Ichigo," Tsuyiku pointed out.

Pops then lunged at us. Tsuyiku blocked him with the sword, and Pops caught it in his mouth.

"But still-" I started.

"Stop it," Karin said. More tears flowed from her eyes. "We can't afford to be fighting with one another. We have to stay calm. But it's useless saying that."

"Karin," I said.

"Even if he's still live down there, how many more people will he kill?" she stated. "How much blood will be stained on his hands? We should stop him, before he starts killing more."

She was right. People will have their own members of their families and friends taken away from them if Pops stays like this. It's one less infected on the loose.

"... Fine," I said.

I heard a crack. Pops was bitting the wooden sword so hard, that his teeth went through it. The sword snapped.

"Oh, shit!" Tsuyiku shouted. "Run n' find somethin' else ta kill 'im wit'!"

He grabbed the bit that had broken off, and with the other part, he held Pops off.

"Hurry!" he shouted.

I dashed into my room and grabbed the nearest thing that could be somewhat used for killing someone with. I ran back out, holding my guitar.

"Is tha all ya could find?" Tsuyiku asked.

"It was the first thing that I found," I pointed out.

"Remember, whack 'im o'er tha head, 'cause wit' zombies, ya destroy th'r brains!" Tsuyiku shouted.

He then gave Pops one final push, and ducked. I brought the guitar across, and smashed his face with it, making blood fly everywhere.

Pops flew down the stairs, staining it with blood, and tumbled towards the front door. Tsuyiku ran after him, probably to make sure that he was dead. I followed him, so I could help him if Pops wasn't really dead.

I first glanced behind me, and Karin was kneeling down, crying. I wanted to comfort her, knowing that she was one of the hardest hit when Mum died. But I had to make sure that Pops was really gone. I knew that Tsuyiku could handle himself, but I didn't want another person from my family dead. I didn't want to fail in protecting another one.

When I got there, Uncle Zangetsu was in the corridor, with Pops lying there, bloody all over, and Tsuyiku was just standing there, not saying a word.

Zangetsu knelt down in front of Pops, and I said, "Don't."

He looked up at me, his eyes full of sadness, and said, "Don't worry, I know about this virus. I heard about it on the news, and the streets are full of the infected people. It must have been hard to kill him."

"Wait, did ya say th't tha streets r' full o' zombies?" Tsuyiku asked.

"Yes," Zangetsu answered.

Tsuyiku's eyes widened. "Shit, tha world really is turin' into zombies."

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"We'll need to find a place safer than here," Zangetsu then stood up and asked, "Did Yuzu and Karin…"

Tsuyiku looked down. "Yea, Yuzu's dead. Karin's just upstairs."

We were all silent for a while. I looked at Pops on the floor. I'd killed him. I'd smashed him across the face with my guitar. But, was he actually alive then? Did he die before that, and something else had taken over him?

But right now, it isn't the time to be thinking about it… We're here, and we have to survive. I have to protect the ones that are alive now. I can deal with the deaths of Yuzu and Pops later, when all this has blown off.

We will survive this.

* * *

><p>* R.S.G. = Random Science Group<p>

Funny when you're writing about zombies and "Conversation 16" by The National is playing, and the line "I was afraid I'd eat your brains" plays. I laughed so hard after it.

Please review. The review page is looking quite sad, and I know there's people reading this, even though there's not many, but still.


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